By Courtney Hardwick
America’s Next Top Model, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, was on the air from 2003 to 2018, and it was must-see TV for anyone with an interest in the fashion, beauty and modelling industries. Like Tyra, the other judges (Janice Dickinson, Twiggy, Paulina Porizkova, Ashley Graham, and more) were also highly successful in the business. For young, aspiring models, being a contestant on the show seemed like a great opportunity to gain experience and be mentored by some of the greats.
But above all else, ANTM was a reality show, which meant it needed one thing—drama. From questionable makeovers and problematic photoshoot themes to bullying and cheating scandals, the show pushed its contestants to the limits. Still, without it, we wouldn’t know how to “smize.”
Any reality show produced in the early 2000s would be fraught with controversy, especially in hindsight, which is why it’s about time Tyra spoke out via a tell-all documentary. A new Netflix documentary, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, aims to deliver a definitive account of what really went on behind the scenes of America’s Next Top Model, which begins streaming on Netflix on Monday, February 16, 2026. (You can watch the trailer here!) But before that documentary takes us behind the scenes, here are some of the wildest, most iconic moments from the show’s 24-season run.
We were rooting for you!
When it comes to memes, even people who never watched an ANTM episode in their lives know about Tyra’s “We were rooting for you!” moment. Cycle 4’s Tiffany had come a long way since the season started, but she finally hit a wall with an assignment and seemed uninterested in putting in the effort required. After a lecture about learning to love herself, Tyra eliminated Tiffany from the competition. Tiffany’s reaction to being eliminated—or lack thereof—irked Tyra so much that she ended up screaming at Tiffany, “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How dare you!” It was an intense moment, but Tiffany has since said that Bank’s rant was 1,000 times worse than what was shown on TV.
The cheating scandal
Being in their early 20s, many of the ANTM girls were single while they were on the show, but one girl in Cycle 2 was in a serious, committed relationship. Shandi talked about her boyfriend, Eric, a lot. But all it took was an attractive male model, a hot tub and a few drinks for her to forget all about him—until she realized what she had done. Shandi called her boyfriend, and the show aired their conversation, including his incredulous response: “You had SEX?!” The decision to air this highly personal conversation is questionable but not surprising, given that the show’s main goal was ratings. And they certainly weren’t trying to hide their true intentions with an episode titled “The Girl Who Cheated.” Poor Shandi went on to come in third that season—wonder if she thinks going on the show was worth it.
Tyra’s “acting” prank
During Cycle 6, Tyra showed up at the girls’ house to talk to them about how they were feeling about the competition so far. Suddenly, she started acting like she was not feeling well, and then she passed out cold in front of nine horrified 20-year-olds. As they tried to check if she was okay, she jumped up and yelled, “Today you guys are going to learn about acting! Acting! Acting! Acting! That was fake!” Understandably, the girls were shaken, and one even looked genuinely pissed off. One of Tyra’s cringiest moments, and let’s just say it’s clear why she never made the transition from model to actress.
Racist male model
In Cycle 7, the final six girls were in Spain for a shoot where they were assigned to pose with and kiss a male model. They spent some time with the guys the night before to get more comfortable for the shoot, and the model assigned to work with Jaeda told her he didn’t like Black women. When she told the judges what had happened, they said she should have taken control and not let this man’s blatant racism stop her—as if it were just that simple. Jaeda ended up being eliminated as a result of that shoot, which was treated as a lesson about the industry: sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. Racism and its impact on Jaeda’s chances in the competition were just another storyline to get ratings.
Girl faints during judging
Rebecca from Cycle 4 had a condition that caused her to pass out unexpectedly, but she hadn’t had one of those episodes in years by the time she became a contestant on the show. Leave it to Tyra to cause this girl so much stress that she very dramatically fainted in the middle of judging: as Rebecca was quietly listening to criticism of her photo, her eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and she tipped over, landing hard on her back, out cold. She woke up a minute later, seemingly fine, but the dramatic way she passed out has been immortalized as an iconic moment in ANTM history. To make matters worse, in 2024, Rebecca did an interview with Oliver Twixt where she revealed that the show didn’t even cover her medical bills.
Brittany’s go-see meltdown
During Cycle 8, the final five girls were in Sydney, Australia, for a day of go-sees (basically, interviews in the modelling world). Being professional and on time in these situations is highly important, but the girls were also set up to fail, given the very tight schedule in an unfamiliar country. The pressure was high, and Brittany didn’t handle it well. When she was late for the last go-see, she had an epic meltdown and blamed her cab driver for not waiting where she told him to. Footage showed she had told him the wrong street name, so she was 100% in the wrong, but that didn’t stop her from throwing a temper tantrum—one that was so dramatic that the client she was supposed to meet with could hear her inside. In response to her dramatics, another contestant, Natasha, simply said, “I just want to tell you that some people have war in their countries.” Iconic.
Race-swapping photoshoot x2
Not once, but twice, ANTM did a photo shoot that required the girls to pose as a different race than they actually were. Yes, that means blackface was involved. It doesn’t get much more problematic than that, even in the early 2000s, but ANTM did it anyway—no shame. In Cycle 2, the girls did a shoot for Got Milk where they were directed to “take on the persona of another ethnicity,” and to take it one step further, they also had to pose with a child of the race they were impersonating. Then in Cycle 13, Tyra herself served as the photographer in a shoot where the girls posed as two races. Tyra described this biracial photo shoot as a “fashion interpretation” of different cultures, but it came across as a caricature of cultures.
Flesh-eating bacteria
It’s no surprise that skin issues sometimes pop up in a house full of young women who are wearing layers of makeup for hours on end every day. But Michelle in Cycle 2 dealt with a rash that looked worse than an irritation from a product. One makeup artist said it “could be leprosy,” and the girls in the house started circulating a rumour that Michelle had a flesh-eating bacteria that could lead to death. Michelle was already a bit of an outsider, and this made it even worse. Eventually, she did end up seeing a doctor and was diagnosed with impetigo, a common bacterial skin infection—unfortunate, but definitely not life-threatening.
The adult diaper
In Cycle 5, the final six girls did a shoot with the guys from MTV’s Wildboyz franchise. While they were in hair and makeup, Lisa put on an adult diaper and threatened to “use it.” Even Steve-O was shocked when she actually did. It was one of those reality show moments that someone never lives down, especially if they’re trying to build a career as a model. Since then, Lisa has claimed she peed in the adult diaper as a way to get back at Ken Mok, the executive producer of the show, for manipulating her throughout filming. Her fellow contestants thought it was more about attention-seeking than anything else, but who really knows?
50 Cent pushes a girl
Mingling with celebrities is something top models need to be comfortable with, so in Cycle 8, the girls were challenged to attend a networking party to impress a potential management team. They met Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie—and, for some reason, 50 Cent was also there. Jael was one of the more polarizing contestants in the house, and she didn’t really know when to back off. She kept bugging 50 Cent until he’d had enough, and he full-on shoved her into the pool. Her fellow contestants said she deserved it because she wouldn’t leave him alone. It’s still unclear whether the moment was genuine or staged, but either way, Jael’s claim to fame is that 50 Cent pushed her into a pool.
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